My family has owned Ford vehicles for as long as I can remember, and they have always performed. I drove my dads 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis. My brother currently drives a 2002 Excursion with 400,000 kilometers on it. In 2011 I bought a brand new F150 Ecoboost.

My truck performed great up until about the 100,000km mark. One would almost guess that these vehicles are designed to fail right at the warranty mark. I had the vehicle in for an oil change and multi point inspection at Cam Clark last summer before the 100,000km mark. Results indicated everything was fine.
Then, I had vacuum pump buzzing issues so I brought it back. I was back once for a diagnosis, and 2 other times to get the pump replaced. It’s still now buzzing noticeably compared to a friends 2013 Ecoboost. Also, during this process I mentioned I had been occasionally hearing a cold start rattle. The techs brushed it off or acted like they weren’t sure what it was about. I later found out (about 2,500km after warranty) this is a timing chain issue and a major repair.

About 2 months ago I went to pass someone on the highway and the vehicle started to shudder and lost all power. I had to step on the brakes and get back behind the car in the right lane. It was an extremely dodgy situation. The engine light started flashing so I pulled over, shut it off and it seemed to clear the code. Tried accelerating again, and same exact issue. Now every time I have to drive over an hour or two, I have to be careful when passing anyone. Ford had no advice for me, telling me they couldn’t diagnose anything without the engine light and the code. I know that as far as misfires go, you shouldn’t be driving a misfiring engine around looking for a dealership…

A few weeks ago, I got into my truck and there was a loud squeaking and scraping coming from under the vehicle. I pulled off the road and couldn’t see anything visibly wrong after a quick check. Didn’t feel comfortable driving to the dealership with the way it sounded so I took it back home. After looking more closely, I found out it was the drive shaft center bearing. Instead of replacing just the center bearing (apparently there is no such thing as a serviceable drive shaft from Ford), I had to buy a new drive shaft for $550.

Over the last little while, I noticed my suspension was getting especially squeaky during low speeds. The dealership recommended I get my bearings replaced. Which is another fairly major repair. Between the timing chain, limp mode issue, and the bearings, this truck is probably not worth keeping. I have taken care of the truck extremely well. All maintenance and oil changes have been done on time, I let it warm up every time I start it cold, and it has only towed maybe 5 or 6 times (a seadoo).

So understandably, I am very curious if these things are common once you pass 100,000km. The durability of these newer trucks is extremely disappointing. I would be extremely hesitant to buy or recommend a Ford after this experience.
My brother’s excursion has been in the shop once in the past 3 years to get the brakes done. Too bad they aren’t built like they used to be. I am a student and can't afford to care for a failing vehicle like this.

 

A flashing CEL is telling you ..you have a mis-fire condition.. have you ever changed the plugs on your well maintained truck

 

1. Change all the plugs and the boots. Knock the gap down to .032 or less and you'll be fine.

2. The vaccuum pump location on a 2011 and 2013 are in COMPLETELY different places so of course it will sound different.

3. Cold start rattle is nothing to worry about until it starts throwing codes for it. This light will of course stay on and not flash.

4. Haven't heard of driveshaft bearing going out that quick, but I'm sure a junkyard would have had one if you really wanted to try it out. For a lot less than $550 bucks.

5. Suspension squeak could be tons of different things. Doesn't mean bearings. What bearings? Wheel bearings?

Lastly, stop going to dealerships! They just throw parts at you and hope it fixes it. Go somewhere that knows what they are talking about or ask questions here. You'll save yourself a ton of money.

 

Yep plugs were changed at about the 85000 mark. I think gapped at 0.33 though - maybe I'll have to try a smaller gap. Didn't change the boots either.

From what I've read the cold start rattle is supposed to be a major repair when the light does start to come on.. Any idea how long that usually takes?

Tried the junkyard approach but Im in a small town currently so not many options, saved a little bit installing it myself.

Was thinking wheel bearings but I'm not really sure. Leafs maybe?

 

I had the loss of power and shudder getting on the freeway in front of a semi truck for the first time. Terrifying! It threw a code and sometimes even died but 3 mechanics couldn't figure it out even with codes. I got onto this forum and it turned out to be a coil pack. I replaced it and no others have went bad in 4 years now. Knock on wood. The coil packs come in all different colors so I got to customize yet another engine component with my blue theme. I also get the occasional chattering cold morning start. It doesn't sound healthy but I have been driving it that way for years so far with no problem.

 

Sounds like a stretched timing chain. Just had to replace mine with the only symptom being cold start rattle. Ford had TSB out for the cam phasers.